Growing Up Next

Alan Webb and Dathan Ritzenhein's Journey from Prodigies to Powerhouses

Like Webb, Ritz spent most of the winter off the track, building strength for the all-important spring campaign. Yet it was all he could do to not do track work when facing the spectre of red-hot Arkansas distance ace Alistair Cragg at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Says Ritz, "At that point I was like ‘Damn it, I’m gonna get my doors blown off at NCAA Indoors if don’t go on the track and make my muscles feel ready,’ but then Mark [Wetmore] was like, ‘It’s that or be fried in August [during the Olympics]. All the way till NCAAs [where he finished fourth] I felt I should have done more."

Over the next few weeks Ritz got on track, running rhythm workouts, like 20x400 in 65 with a minute rest, and lo and behold, when his teammates who’d run more on the track this winter started feeling cranky, Ritz was coming into his own. By the time the Stanford Invitational came around this spring, Ritz says, "I felt incredible."

On April 30, Ritz ran 27:38.5 to set the American collegiate 10,000m record in his first attempt at the distance. Says Ritz of his coach, "He knew what he was doing."

Ritz’s run at Stanford and Webb’s sterling 3:50 mile at the Prefontaine Classic have confirmed that those who once were NEXT have made the leap to NOW.

And as they’ve made the leap they’ve both come to the realization that consistency is the key. Taking small steps for months, even years at a time, none steeper than the rest, is the key to greatness in this sport. It took nine months of consistent training for both Ritz and Webb to post historic performances. And both feel that through their struggles and subsequent success they’ve developed the physiological understanding and the temperament to slowly stoke the fire of their desire for years to come.